In brief The United Arab Emirates’ (“UAE”) federal-level financial services regulator relevant to securities, commodities and now Virtual Assets Service Providers (“VASPs”), the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (“SCA”), has just issued two new regulations relevant to Virtual Assets (“VAs”): SCA Chairman of the Board of Director’s Decision No. (26/RM) of 2023 in relation to Virtual Assets Platform Operators (the “SCA VA Exchange Regulations”); and SCA Chairman of the Board of Director’s Decision No. (27/RM)…
Onshore healthcare legislation also applies to ADGM entities In brief On 11 January 2023, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) published on its website the news about the issuance of the ADGM Healthcare Regulations 2022 (“Healthcare Regulations”). The Healthcare Regulations adopt the Abu Dhabi onshore healthcare legislation – including the regulations and circulars issued by the Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DoH) – into ADGM’s legislative framework. Key takeaways The Healthcare Regulations extend the scope…
In brief Over the last few years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken steps to regulate the volatile crypto industry, as seen in the recent crypto winter, and to anticipate global crypto regulatory developments including in the US and in the UK that have been called upon to regulate the sector through regulations rather than enforcement, to protect retail investors that ultimately were the major victims of the crypto winter. In 2020, the Financial…
In Brief The recently issued Decree No. 34 of 2021 by Dubai’s Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has been a trending topic. The Decree dissolves the Emirates Maritime Arbitration Centre (EMAC) and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Arbitration Institute and assigns their obligations to the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (the New DIAC). Dr. Habib Al Mulla had proposed the changes to the Dubai Government and prepared the first draft of the law…
On 19 March 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned five companies based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), pursuant to Executive Order 13846 (EO 13846), for their alleged involvement in purchasing hundreds of thousands of metric tons of petroleum products from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for delivery to the UAE. The following UAE-based companies were added to the US Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List): (1) Alam Althrwa…